It’s one of my favorite times of the year….Fall!  And that means it’s time to use one of my very favorite fall ingredients…. pumpkin!  I love cooking and baking with pumpkin.  If you check out my recipe archives I’m sure you will find a lot of recipes containing pumpkin.  Again, it’s a favorite.  However this year since I’m Paleo I’ve been trying to figure out how I can bake with pumpkin and still have it fit into the Paleo ways.  Of course, these are my treats but for the little ones they are great!  These muffins I actually packed in their lunch box as a snack, they’ve had them for breakfast, or even a after school snack.  And honestly the only bite I got is the one I took to take the pictures for the blog.  They ate these up pretty fast.   

Now back to the whole fall thing, I love fall and I’m wishing and hoping the weather here in South Florida starts to change soon so I can get a slight feel that it’s actually fall.  I doubt that will happen but a girl can dream, right?  We are headed to the pumpkin patch this weekend and there is something strange about going to the pumpkin patch in a sleeveless shirt and shorts.  I guess that’s what happens when a girl moves from the Atlanta where seasons are to Florida where the seasons aren’t.  I’ll just turn the air conditioning up in the house and pretend it’s fall and bake some more of these pumpkin muffins.  Sound good to everyone?   

Have a great weekend everyone!  Enjoy the muffins!  See you back here next week for some more Paleo goodies.

Pumpkin Paleo Muffins

 Print Recipe

1 ½ cups almond flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, plus more for sprinkling on tops of muffins

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

3 tablespoons maple syrup

¾ cup canned pumpkin

1 small ripe banana, mashed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup chopped pecans (plus more to sprinkle on top)

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin pan with paper liners or use coconut oil to grease pan. 

In a large bowl whish together almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.  Set aside

 In a small bowl whisk together eggs, pumpkin, banana, and vanilla extract.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix to combine.  Stir in pecans until well incorporated.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan cups filling ¾ full.  Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with pecans and pumpkin pie spice. 

 Bake muffins for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden.

 Makes 12 muffins 

Note: These are best kept in a airtight container in the refrigerator.  When you are ready to eat them just heat them up slightly and enjoy!

I have another Paleo treat for you and this is another quick and easy recipe.  It only takes minutes to put together but you do have to wait while these little muffins cook up in the oven.  The little ones can help in making these in the kitchen too.  My girls got in the kitchen and helped me with these.  They have become mommy’s little helper in the kitchen lately.  For this recipe they helped peel the bananas and had a great time mashing them up.  They added all the dry ingredients to the bowl and soon afterwards we were filling the muffin tin.  And the sprinkling of the additional chocolate chips on top of the muffins made these even more fun to make.  Once these little treats were done it wasn’t too far afterwards the little ones had chocolate faces and chocolate hands and with big smiles on their faces.  Which meant they were a success.  Especially when they ask if they could have them “all” week in their lunch boxes.  I don’t feel too bad putting these Paleo muffins in their lunch box either.  And just between you and I, I also snuck one in my lunch box one day too.  They are definitely a treat, but a very much needed treat every now and then.  Especially after a hard workout….ha!  Kidding….well sort of!  But best of all in my book, the kids love them!

 Enjoy!

Almond Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Print Recipe

3/4 cup almond butter

1 cup almond flour

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional – I love cinnamon)

1/3 cup plus more for topping muffins Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (Dairy-Free, Soy Free, Gluten-Free) – I find mine at Whole Foods

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a muffin pan with coconut spray (found at Whole Foods – love).

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips and mix everything is incorporated.  Now stir chocolate chips into batter.  Pour batter into prepared muffin tin filling all 12 cups evenly.  Top muffins with a few additional chocolate chips.

 Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let the muffins cool and remove from pan.  And enjoy!!

Makes 12 muffins, you could also make this into a loaf of bread too.  I’m sure it would be just as yummy.  Mini muffins would work too.  Of course, you would have to adjust the bake time accordingly.

Confession….I’ve never made my own homemade breakfast sausage.  That is until now.  And I have to say my Sunday breakfasts have been missing out.  These sausages are filled with spices and are the perfect addition to your morning breakfast.  I served these with eggs and sweet potato hash browns.  Yum!  My new favorite Sunday morning breakfast.  I first spotted this recipe in my new Paleo Magazine, but changed it up slightly by adding a couple different spices and using pork and chicken instead of beef.  So for those beef eaters out there you can use 1 pound of grass-fed beef if you prefer.  And one more thing, I made half the sausages with a little honey for the little ones and the hubby but for my sausages I left the honey out.  I gave mine a thumbs up without the honey and the the rest of the house gave them thumbs up too so either way they will be delicious.  Promise me you’ll give these a try one morning with the family.  They will knock your socks off.  At least I hope they do.  And another confession….I even ate these for some extra protein during the day. 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I don’t know about you but going from the long weekend with Labor Day to a short really effected this household.  I really think they should make all work weeks 4 days and weekends 3!  What do you say?  Good idea?  I say yes, my vote is in.  I could use that extra day to get everything done and actually feel a little relaxed.  If that could ever happen.

Ok, enjoy the sausages…you have to try them!  And I’ll be back again this week sharing another “treat”.  See you soon!

Breakfast Sausage

Print Recipe

1/2 pound ground pork

1/2 pound ground chicken (I used ground thigh meat)

1/2 tablespoon honey (optional)

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon majoram

1 teaspoon granulated onion

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1/2 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Instructions:

Heat oil in pan over medium heat.

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients; form into approximately 3-inch patties.

Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes; flip and cook for another 3 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Paleo Magazine

This post is for waffles but I’m not going to spend much time talking about waffles. There is something more important I would like to share with you.  Earlier this month, food writer and blogger Jennifer Perillo of In Jennie’s Kitchen lost her husband suddenly to a heart attack. Though I don’t know her, I have been so moved by her story.  Last week I sat in front of my computer and cried so hard for Jennie and her two little girls (ages 3 and 8).  I can’t even imagine the loss they all must be feeling at this time.  And many have felt the same way.  Many people wanted to do something but didn’t know what to do.  It was then that Jennie said the best way they could show support was to make her husband Mikey’s favorite thing, Peanut Butter Pie.  The food blogging community is an amazing community!  Last week, thousands of bloggers shared Peanut Butter Pies for Jennifer and her daughters through a series of blog posts.  This event made the front page of CNN.com and Food Network. Submissions were flooding in so quickly that Tastespotting and Foodgawker dedicated entire pages to Mikey’s Peanut Butter Pie. And Todd and Diane made a beautiful video that made this a movement.  Now I hope we can all come together again and support Jennifer and her daughters in this very difficult time, both emotionally and financially.  A fund has been started so that we may all easily donate directly to Jennifer. Called #afundforjennie, it’s being organized, maintained and facilitated by Shauna James Ahern of Gluten Free Girl and Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks. Maggy launched Bloggers Without Borders, a non-profit organization of bloggers for bloggers. Bloggers Without Borders is now collecting money for Jennie’s family and have made it super easy to donate. Also various auctions are being held by bloggers to raise money for Jennie and her family.  If you can give just a little it will help her and her family in more ways than one.

Thanks for listening and please give the ones you love a hug and kiss and tell them how much you value them because you never know what life may bring.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the waffles….trust me…they are yummy!

 

Apple Coconut Waffles

Print Recipe

2 eggs

1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

¼ cup water

1 ½ cups almond flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder

½ apple, peeled and grated

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, and water until smooth.

Add the almond flour, salt, baking soda, arrowroot powder, and cinnamon and mix thoroughly.  Add apples and coconut and mix to combine.

In a preheated and greased waffle iron, scoop batter onto iron and cook until golden brown or as your waffle irons instructions.

 Top waffle with additional coconut, toasted pecans, and apple and serve along with maple syrup.  A real treat!

Busy mornings are quickly approaching my house since the girls are heading back to school (preschool!).  Mornings are already a little busy around here, and thats just with me trying to get myself out the door for work.  Then you add the factor of getting two little girls dressed, teeth brushed, breakfast ready, and lunches packed ….it basically equals to a CRAZY house!  And lets face it, the first week of a new school year always has an adjustment period. 

The past few weeks with my new change to a Paleo “diet” (lifestyle) I have been working to plan meals ahead.  And this change is actually great because it helps me to plan the whole families meals ahead of time, including the most important meal of the day…breakfast.  These muffins are my new go-to recipe and the perfect recipe for the upcoming busy mornings.  These muffins are delicious, family-friendly, and fast and easy!  All things that make my mornings a little easier.  The best part is you can make a big batch of egg muffins and have breakfast already prepared for the entire week.  Once they are baked all you have to do is store them in refrigerator and in the morning reheat and go.  Like I said, fast and easy!  And they are packed with protein, which will get everyone in the house off to a good start.  They definitely beat having a cereal bar, bagel, or other other gluten filled product.  Those just leave you with no energy and hungry only an hour later.    Eggs are a great way to jump start the whole families day and it also helps that they leave you energized and off to a productive day.  Enjoy!   

Egg Muffins

Print Recipe

2 mild chicken sausages, removed from casing

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup carrots, grated

1/2 cup fresh spinach, chopped

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh basil, diced

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

10 – 12 omega 3 eggs (cage-free)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray muffin pan with coconut cooking spray and grease with coconut oil.

In a skillet, cook sausage until cooked through and no longer pink.  Make sure to break the sausage up into “crumb” size pieces. 

In a medium bowl, combine cooked sausage, red bell pepper, shredded carrots, spinach, and basil.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, salt and pepper.  Add egg mixture to the sausage and veggie mixture and stir to combine. 

Using a measuring cup or a ice cream scoop fill muffin cups with egg mixture being sure not to fill cups to the rim.  I used about 1/4 to 1/3 cup in each cup.

Bake the egg muffins for 20 to 25 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle. 

Makes about 12 to 16 muffins.  Muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days. 

In a

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